Chicago Bulls Talk: Joakim Noah Was Screwed!
By Ronald Agers
Pippen Peoples! Breaking News to Pippen Ain’t Easy, your best choice for Chicago Bulls news, previews and reviews. For this article and this article only, I, Ronald Agers will be a Chicago Bulls fan.
Oct 7, 2014; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts in the third quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Yes Tom, the Knicks fan is putting down his blue and orange for a second for Chicago Bulls black and red. Shocking to the spirit ain’t it.
Don’t change websites, don’t reboot your computer and don’t get your eyes checked. It’s true, right now, I am a Chicago Bulls fan. Enjoy the moment because my loyalty will be back in New York by the time the article ends.
Pippen Peoples, you have one man to thank for this once in a lifetime event…
Sep 29, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce (34) poses for a portrait during Wizards Media Day at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Paul Pierce.
Growing up as kid, I remember my Pops, Walter Agers always telling me about how much he hated people who go-for-bad. That means putting on a show to act tough when everyone knows that you aren’t going to do anything.
Let me lead you up to the events that caused the fiasco on Monday night.
I know all of you are looking at Paul Pierce and calling him a punk, a dirty player, a slow has been who’s game smells like 35 year old Chuck Taylors without the odor eaters. You know maybe you’re right. But I see a man in pain. Look at the picture above. His career is like that picture…off center.
That fracas that you saw on Monday was not about Jimmy Butler.
That fracas that you saw was not about Joakim Noah.
This was misguided anger at the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers. You see these two teams know something the Washington Wizards don’t know but will know by the All-Star break.
Paul Pierce stinks.
Paul pulled a Mike Tyson during the Evander Holyfield fight (the second one) on Monday night. Paul had two fouls during warm ups before he fouled Jimmy Butler hard collecting his third foul. He knows Jimmy Butler is on his way to a fat payday while he’s on his last contract at 11 million over two years.
He knew that the Chicago Bulls were making him look like a past his prime, over the hill player that is starting on his journeyman stint into retirement. That hurts Pippen Peoples, that hurts. Let’s delve into his pain shall we?
The Brooklyn Nets didn’t want him.
The Los Angeles Clippers who is run by Doc Rivers who Pierce won a title with in 2008 didn’t want him.
Check out his conversation with David Aldridge of NBA.com…
"David Aldridge: Was Washington your first choice? I heard all summer you wanted to go home to L.A., to the Clippers.Paul Pierce: Obviously, this is my first time in free agency. I didn’t know where I’d end up. Truthfully, I thought I was going to end in Brooklyn, with Kevin [Garnett]. I told Kevin, if you are not going to retire, then I probably will come back. But when Brooklyn didn’t give me an offer, it was like, I talked to him, and I kind of started looking at my options then. I thought I probably would end up with the Clippers with Doc [Rivers], but they wound up signing Spencer Hawes [and using the full mid level exception] at the time."
Okay Pippen Peoples, let’s break this down. At one time Paul Pierce was considered one of the greatest Celtics of all time (Get real, I can think of nine off the top of my head). Now he can’t get the Brooklyn Nets to pick up the phone to even give him an offer?
Here’s the real source of his pain. Doc Rivers and Paul Pierce participated in two NBA Finals and won one championship, but he passed you over for Spencer Hawes.
Mar 30, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Spencer Hawes (32) reacts during a game against the Indiana Pacers at Quicken Loans Arena. Cleveland won 90-76. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
SPENCER HAWES!
Spencer Hawes was the center for the Cleveland Cavaliers…last year when they stunk.
Believe me, the Clippers need a small forward after Jared Dudley ate his way out-of-town. Now the Clippers have Chris Douglas Roberts and Matt Barnes who has played for 57 teams in his career. Paul Pierce is just hurting everyone. Give him a break.
All Paul Pierce wanted to do was pull a Kevin Garnett. Start something and let the referees jump in real quick and break it up. I think all of us know that Joakim Noah would have had Paul Pierce on WGN Chicago that night as the lead story. Pierce would have been on life support and Noah would have been in jail for assault. I would have put money on Jimmy Butler in a fight with Pierce. The quiet ones you have to worry about.
Joakim Noah deserves a shout out for defending his teammate. It’s something that he should do anyway. It’s a shame that his teammates can’t take Noah’s tab (NBA rules won’t allow it), but they should do something to show their gratitude. The man was screwed. He was fined for defending a teammate. Paul Pierce was fined for impersonating a NBA player.
Let me get the other guys out-of-the-way.
Oct 6, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich (12) steals the ball from Washington Wizards center DeJuan Blair (45) during the second half at the United Center. The Washington Wizards defeat the Chicago Bulls 85-81. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Dejuan Blair.
This dude. The fact that Kirk Hinrich swiped the ball from him should warrant him to shut his trap. But the weak will always speak.
Check out what this yahoo told Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post, a newspaper he can’t even jump over with a running start…
"“That wasn’t a statement just for them!” Blair proclaimed. “That was a statement for the league!”"
What statement was that? The NBA did Blair a favor by suspending him, along with the NBA in general. Hopefully Dejuan Blair will figure out that shooting a floater requires jumping in the air. How do you get two shots blocked in the same game trying a floater five feet from the basket? One of those shots was blocked by Aaron Brooks. Yeah THAT Aaron Brooks.
Nene.
Come on Pippen Peoples, you know Nene was going to get in on this. It was only April since this happened…
Apr 25, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards forward Nene (42) scuffles with Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) in the fourth quarter in game three of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. Nene received two technical fouls and was ejected. The Bulls won 100-97. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Daniel Orton.
Who would you rather have on your squad between these two bums…I mean Kentucky players, Marquis Teague or Daniel Orton? (Editor’s note…at least Teague scored buckets in Brooklyn, ask Paul Pierce, he was there.)
Xavier Silas.
Like that dude is going to make the roster.
When the Chicago Bulls signed Nazr Mohammed to a one year deal, I thought it was a terrible signing. But then John Wall opened his mouth…
"“That let’s you know how it’s going to be for the four times we play them in the regular season,” Wall said. “It might get a lot worse than that.”"
Hey Nazr, remember this…
May 10, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls center Nazr Mohammed (48) pushes Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) during the second quarter in game three of the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Do this about six times and you’ll definitely get love from Pippen Ain’t Easy.
Just sayin.
Well Pippen Peoples, it was fun being a Chicago Bulls fan for an article. I know Joakim Noah and Jimmy Butler was thinking this but I felt the need to save them another check to the NBA offices. Don’t be mad at Paul Pierce. He just had some misguided anger and frustration. Furthermore, if you went from a star to a scrub in four months, you’d be mad too.
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